Chennai's batting coach Michael Hussey wants his team to adapt quickly to their new home venue in Pune when they face Rajasthan tonight
CSK's MS Dhoni (left) chats with Harbhajan Singh during a match against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede recently. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Using spin to good effect at home has always been part of the Chennai strategy in the T20. It was evident even during their lone game in Chennai this season, with spinners dominating the proceedings in a high-scoring game. All that would need to change now, as MS Dhoni's men try to adapt to their new 'home' with a game against Rajasthan at the MCA Stadium here today. Chennai, in their only game in Chennai this season, opened with Harbhajan Singh's off-spin from one end against Kolkata. In all, the combined eight spin overs from Harbhajan, Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja went for 56 runs and earned two wickets. Those were impressive returns, considering KKR scored 202 runs.
High-scoring venue
That might not be a case at the MCA stadium here though, as the venue has a history of producing high-scoring games. Square boundaries are quite short, and it's a risk to bowl spinners against an in-form batsman here, a risk Dhoni preferred not to take as a skipper of the Pune. "We have to adapt to conditions. The team were based on a lot on spin, based on Chennai conditions. But the conditions here may be very different, so we are going to have to adapt quickly," Chennai's batting coach Mike Hussey said on match eve.
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Michael Hussey
That might bring in English left-arm quick David Willey into contention. Willey, known for his death bowling ability, had a good bowling session in the nets yesterday evening. Hussey said he was confident about the teams' two crucial injured members — MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina — playing today. Raina, after a long batting session on Wednesday, had a long net with a strapped calf. Dhoni also looked comfortable with his back, as he sent the balls into stands repeatedly without much discomfort.
Advantage Rajasthan
Rajasthan might be playing this as an away game, but they have enough knowledge about the conditions here. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat were all part of the Pune T20 team last season, as was Pune's own Rahul Tripathi. Tripathi was one of the Top 10 batsmen in the IPL-2017 season, scoring 391 runs as an opener. With the Royals, especially their Aussie opener D'Arcy Short struggling to get going in the powerplay overs, it won't be a bad idea for the Rajasthan to send Tripathi to open the innings with skipper Rahane. The pair had a very successful union for Pune last season, and it could just be the kind of momentum that Rajasthan have missed so far this season.
The pitch is expected to produce a high-scoring game. There was a good grass cover on it on the eve of the game — "a bit more than we usually see on an Indian pitch" according to Hussey. It would be a surprise though, if most of it is not shaved off by today evening. The curator has had a week to prepare the track, a period considered to be enough to produce good batting track by a pitch expert, who didn't wish to be named.
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